Darrisaw has only played the equivalent of one full regular season — 17 starts. That makes his steady play this year more impressive, considering his rookie campaign was undercut by a lingering core muscle injury that required two surgeries, the last during 2021 training camp.Vikings offensive line coach Chris Kuper arrived this spring with the new coaching staff and was surprised to hear how injured Darrisaw was, because the film of his 10 rookie starts didn't show a guy who had missed spring workouts and training camp.
"You know you got something to work with when a guy looks like that coming straight off the training room," Kuper said.
But Darrisaw wasn't exactly thrilled with his performance. He didn't give up a single sack during his last season at Virginia Tech despite playing through the abdominal pain that required operations.
He held himself to the same standard when then-Cowboys edge rusher Randy Gregory beat him for his first sack allowed in the NFL in Week 8.
"That was my second start, 'Sunday Night Football,' " Darrisaw said. "He was setting me up all game for this one move. He was going power, power, power consecutively. And then he kind of hit me with like a power and a spin move. ... I'd never seen anything like it."
Heading into this season, Darrisaw said he focused on improving pass protection. His footwork needed to become more consistent. He needed to vary the way he positions himself against a rusher, known as pass sets. Dropping back the same way over and over allowed rushers like Gregory to easily set him up with their moves.
Darrisaw said he's learning how to throw "curveballs" at defenders, from standard vertical sets — or a straight backward shuffle — to 45-degree angle sets or aggressive, "attacking" sets where he initiates the contact.
He has returned to his lofty standard. Through seven games, Darrisaw is one of just three NFL tackles to make every start and not surrender a sack, according to Pro Football Focus, joining the Buccaneers' Tristan Wirfs and the Giants' Andrew Thomas.
The improvement was showcased against then-Bears edge rusher Robert Quinn, whom Darrisaw recalled beating him for two sacks last season. The night before
the Vikings' Oct. 9 win against Chicago, O'Connell called out Darrisaw's matchup with Quinn in the team meeting as one of the keys to victory.
After Quinn was held without a quarterback hit or sack, O'Connell gave Darrisaw a game ball.
"He challenged me to not let him get going," Darrisaw said. "You got the tools and everything to go out there and have a dominant day. I went out there and did that and we got the win, so it was a great feeling."
https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vikings-washington-commanders-christian-darrisaw-homecoming/600222345/